I was in the City, London’s financial district, for a meeting the other day and found myself in Pudding Lane, infamous for being the source of the Great Fire of London. This was previously heralded by historians as both the most tragic event to have befallen London and, ironically, its saviour.

“A paradox”, I hear you cry. Well, London had been in the grip of another epic threat at the time of the fire, namely the plague or Black Death. Many believe this cataclysmic malaise was caused by rats. In truth, it wasn’t the rats but the fleas that lived on the rats that caused the spread of the infection. Ironically, it wasn’t until the catastrophic great fire that the City was purged of the disease.

Understandably, the financial districts have been targeted by the worldwide press as the source of the economic plague that has infected world markets. Indeed the directors of a select number of organisations within those financial districts have been demonised for seemingly single-handedly bringing about the collapse of their institutions and spreading this economic disease to related markets and economies.

This is where history and imagination collide. If we allow ourselves to obsess about tabloid caricatures of “Fred the shred” and his peer group we’re in danger of missing the point. The iniquity of the directors themselves and problems the City faces are merely the symptoms of a much more invidious infection. The disease of selfishness, short termism and winning at all costs has become an epidemic which has arguably spread throughout the world of commerce.

The risk we currently face is that if we focus exclusively on the senior leaders, we forget that the malaise has already spread and infected the culture of the kingdoms they once ruled.

Regardless of short-term actions, the epidemic will surface again unless we can start to:
- reinvent HR and get a grip on current versus required culture;
- proactively manage employer brands;
- professionalise internal communications;
- respect and prioritise organisation development;
- forge more effective relationships between the external manifestation of brand and the link to the organisation’s values and the employees who keep the promises.

As the year draws to a close, if you’re considering your own firestorm of change, pause for a second before you reach for the axe or the ad agency. Consider your existing employees once again:

• Who epitomises the culture you need to deliver on your brand promise – and who doesn’t?
• What more can you do to reconnect your core culture with your brand?
• How can you refocus employees on the next phase in the evolution of the company, to understand and re-energise them?

You may think you know who the rats are, but don’t forget the power of the fleas.